Inventiveness

I don't think that inventiveness and creativity are rewarded much in schools.  For the most part, students are instructed to complete worksheets that ask questions taken directly out of the textbook and tested on said worksheets.  They do projects created by the teacher with little to no autonomy involved in the process.  Conformity, not creativity, is rewarded in schools. 

I think this lack of creativity in schools is sad, because creativity is an incredibly important skill in the 21st century.  Employers are looking for employees who can come up with new ideas and solutions to problems, not employees who look up the answer in a textbook.  It is amazing to me that the American education system knows what employers are looking for, and yet does nothing to drastically change curriculum as it needs to be changed.

I think the best way to "teach" creativity is to incorporate autonomy in classwork.  Let students choose their own method of completing assignments or let them create their own project.  Teachers could also ask questions in class that force students to think out of the box--things that don't come out of a textbook.  If students are given more freedom, I think they will flourish creatively and become more productive (and interesting) adults.